OKLAHOMA CITY – After nearly a month on the road, the Mid-America Christian volleyball team will be back in its friendly confines of the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday for a 6 p.m. non-conference match against Arlington Baptist.

LAST TIME OUT

Coming off its first road win of the season, Mid-America Christian (4-1) continued to stay hot on the road by picking up a pair of three-set sweeps at a tri-match hosted by Friends in Wichita Kansas on Sept. 22.

The Evangels were challenged by Bethel (Kan.) (0-5) in the first set of their opening match, but dominated the final two sets to come away with the 25-21, 25-15, 25-15 win.

In the victory, senior outside hitter Hanna Foecker tied her own NAIA era three-set match kills record with 21 on a .333 attack percentage. On the defensive end, senior libero Maegan Plunk also set a career mark as her 28 digs not only established her own personal best in a three-set match, but was also the second-highest mark in a three-set match in the MACU record books, placing only one behind Camera Broadnax's 29 recorded at John Brown in 2016.

MACU played one of its best defensive matches of the season, limiting the Threshers to a -.008 attack percentage on only 20 kills and forced 21 attack errors. While the Evangels are on a record-setting defensive pace, it was the first time Mid-America Christian had held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage during the 2020-21 season.

The Evangels were up to the challenge when they played the host Friends (4-3) in the nightcap as MACU handed the Falcons their first home loss of the season by a score of 25-19, 25-17, 25-18.

Once again, Foecker was nearly unstoppable on the outside as her 19 kills set the third-highest three-set match mark in the MACU record books while hitting for a blistering .436 attack percentage to go with a season-best five service aces and 10 digs. Sophomore right side hitter and middle blocker Maddie Callicoat also stepped up big time on the offensive end, notching nine kills on a .692 attack percentage.

Where the Evangels excelled in the match was from the service line as MACU finished with 10 service aces, averaging 3.3 service aces per set while the defense stymied the Falcons service on the reception by not allowing a single ace for the entire match.

SCOUTING THE LADY PATRIOTS

An NCCAA Division II institution out of Arlington, Texas, Arlington Baptist enters Thursday night's contest with a 1-4 record. The Lady Patriots are coming off a pair of losses in a tri-match hosted by MACU's neighbor Randall over in Moore, Oklahoma, falling 3-1 to the host Saints before being swept in straight sets by Oklahoma Wesleyan.

A relatively balanced ABU attack is led by sophomore Peniah Waites with 32 kills (2.0 kills per set) while freshman Julianna Harrison has pitched in 27 kills (2.08 kills per set). Sophomore setter Billie Sulak will handle the primary passing duties with a team-best 50 assists (3.85 assists per set) while junior Aubrey Grantham will lead the defensive efforts with a team-high 28 digs (1.87 digs per set).

HISTORY WITH THE LADY PATRIOTS

The two teams will be facing each other for the first time in the programs' histories.

SWEEPING THE WEEKLIES

For the second straight week, Mid-America Christian swept the Sooner Athletic Conference player of the week awards on Monday with Hanna Foecker collecting the Attacker of the Week, Maegan Plunk taking home the Defender Player of the Week and Ryann Hale being selected as the Setter of the Week. Before the same three Evangels swept the awards back on Sept. 21, the Evangels had never won all three awards on the same week. On-top of sweeping the weekly awards, MACU earned its first ever NAIA weekly awards as this week, Foecker was selected as the NAIA Attacker of the Week while the previous week, Maegan Plunk became the Evangels' first ever NAIA Defender of the Week.

FINDING THEIR STRIDE

Since their season-opening loss to Oklahoma Wesleyan back on Sept. 5, Mid-America Christian has found its stride both in the attack and on the defense. In that four-set loss to the Eagles, MACU hit for just a .022 attack percentage while allowing OKWU to hit for a .210 percentage. However, since that match, MACU has swatted for a .197 attack percentage while limiting opponents to only an .078 attack percentage on the defensive end.